About this event
This event is hosted by the Centre for Death and Society (CDAS) at the University of Bath. Three Visiting Fellows will present on their research relating to death and dying in Asia.
The event is open to the public and free to attend. We ask that you please register if you wish to attend.
This event has been recorded and you can view the recording online.
Presentations
The Features of End of Life Care Policies and Practice in China: Illustrated with Field Work in the Hospice Ward in a Beijing Hospital
Speaker: Dr. Qian Liu
Institute of Anthropology, School of Sociology and Population Study, Renming University (China)
Abstract:
Under pressure from the size of a large aging population and the high mortality rate from cancer patients in China, new End of Life Care policies and practices were introduced by the Government. The features of these present end of life care policies and practices in China could be summarized in three points. Firstly, there is huge gap between care needs and care provisions. Secondly, it is a tightly controlled official medical system. Thirdly, the dialogue embedded in the policies and practices reflects the social transformation of China today.
End-of-life experiences in the social and historical context of Japan
Speaker:Dr. Ryosuke Morooka
Institute of Education, Shimane University (Japan)
Abstract:
The survey of bereaved persons I conducted in 2007, 2011, and 2015 shows that end-of-life experiences like deathbed visions or terminal lucidity are not uncommon in contemporary Japan. On the other hand, historical documents from before the war era indicate different types of end-of-life experiences from the present ones, especially regarding deathbed visions. This historical gap raises further questions: Why does only a family member come before the dying in most contemporary deathbed visions? What happened to the ways to treat the dead during the wartime?
Japanese tree burial and its social context: cemetery management issues in contemporary Japan
Speaker: Aki Miyazawa
Program in Philosophy, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Tsukuba (Japan)
Abstract:
‘Tree burial (Jumoku-so樹木葬)’ was invented as a new burial style in 1999 Japan and it has been spreading across the country since then. Recently this kind of ecologically concerned burial has developed in many countries, both West and East, despite big cultural differences among these countries. Does this mean that a growing number of people around the world have begun to be concerned about the environmental impact of their own death? If we look at cemetery management issues in contemporary Japan, we find various situations that encourage municipal/private cemeteries and Buddhist temples to adapt tree burial. They do not necessarily involve ecological concerns, but more the lack of space for burial, high grave price in urban areas, or the Buddhist temple’s strategy to survive etc.